Granby01033

Be sure to check out the comment of Amherst's Larry Kelley on the town meeting vote.

I thought it was an interesting, potentially good idea, that Amherst town meeting would consider bringing two wrongly imprisoned men from Guantanamo to live in Amherst.  If served with a petition, I might have voted as a selectman to let town meeting decide on the issue. I generally like to think these things over, however.  I also represent a community with different beliefs than Amherst.

Aside from Amherst Select Board Member Stephanie O'Keefe, however, nobody seems to have thought twice about inviting two ex-Gitmo prisoners to live in Amherst. I don't know where the other select board members stand on the issue. The agenda for town meeting is established by the select board. Allowing an article to go forward isn't necessarily equivalent to supporting it. 

Anywho, it turns out one of the Gitmo invitees is wanted from some human trafficking and other crimes. The guy may not be Al Quaeda, but that doesn't mean he's not a scumbag. The Gazette reports:

The article was brought forward by Town Meeting member and petitioner Ruth Hooke on behalf of Pioneer Valley No More Guantanamos, an advocacy group.

Hooke, of Precinct 8, said Monday she was unaware of Interpol's charges against Mingazov but added that it was important to remember that he's innocent until proven guilty.

She said it wouldn't change her mind about Mingazov; the other detainee invited to town, Algerian native Ahmed Belbacha, has already been cleared by the U.S. State Department.

"We're used to the fact that all kinds of allegations have been made about our people, including maybe that one, I don't know," said Hooke. "Things stay on their records even though they've been cleared."

Mingazov, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002, is awaiting a writ of habeas corpus, a legal petition that seeks to determine whether a prisoner is being held lawfully. Hooke said any outstanding legal matters for Mingazov will be addressed if the writ is granted.

However, Hooke said it wasn't set in stone that either man would end up living in Amherst.

"By no means is it a done deal that these will be the two. We just featured them mainly because we went over their stories and it sounded like they had very interesting stories to tell and would make a contribution to our community."

In the transcripts of hearings between Mingazov and U.S. military officials, none of the matters outlined by Interpol came up for discussion; most addressed whether he was an enemy of the United States, sympathetic with and trained by al-Qaida.

--Mb